Solar@Work, April 3, 2014

Ohio Senate Republicans last week introduced a plan to freeze Ohio’s green energy requirements at current levels to buy time for a study commission to determine whether further changes to the controversial law are warranted.

SB 310, sponsored by Sen. Troy Balderson (R-Zanesville) would limit the state’s energy efficiency requirements to a 4.2% reduction from when the 2008 law took place. The legislation also freezes the renewable requirement at the current 2.5% of the total amount of electricity sold by Ohio’s utilities. More

NREL, LBNL Compare PV Installed Costs in U.S., Japan

A new report from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory finds per-watt installation costs in Japan are lower than in the United States because of lower costs for customer acquisition, design, permitting and inspection, and labor – except for residential mechanical labor, because tile roofs are expensive to penetrate. More

SolarBuzz: Global PV Installs Up 35% in Q1

New solar photovoltaic (PV) demand added during Q1’14 exceeded 9 GW, which was 35% more than the previous first-quarter record, set last year. In fact, every quarter in 2014 is forecast to reach new highs, with trailing 12-month demand at the end of Q1’15 forecast to exceed 50 GW for the first time, according to findings in the latest NPD Solarbuzz Quarterly report. More

Utah Plans 80MW PV Farm

Norway’s Scatec Solar will build an 80 MW PV plant in Iron County, Utah. The Utah Red Hills Renewable Energy Park will generate around 210 million kWh of per year under a 20-year PPA with PacifiCorp. It will be Utah’s largest solar energy generation facility. More

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